Website Policies and Important Links E-print Web Log

E-print Network E-print Network
 

Technical Requirements
Search
 --- Search Tips
 --- Search Examples
 --- Where Supported Note
 --- Results
 --- Results Navigation
 --- Marked List Navigation
 --- About the Search Engine
Disciplines
Database Collection Descriptions
Scientific Societies
Alert Service
--- Registering
--- Creating Your Search
--- Editing
--- Samples

From the E-print Network, users can Search e-prints on multiple Web sites and databases, browse e-prints by Disciplines, browse a list of Scientific Societies, and receive Alerts for new e-prints added to the E-print Network.

E-prints on Web Sites search – The E-print Network E-prints on Web Sites searches indexed PDF documents residing on e-print Web sites.  This search has been optimized to reduce the "noise" of irrelevant items and to minimize duplication.

Database search – The deep Web search offers full-text searching within and across database collections. This provides users the capability to pulse the search engines of selected e-print databases with a single query.  A compiled search results list is returned.  If a description is needed for a database, please refer to the Collection Description page.

The results of an E-print Network search may include full-text, bibliographic citations and other types of material. The searches are powered by Distributed Explorit from Deep Web Technologies.

As a service to our user community, a list of Scientific Societies and associations which focus on topics related to the Department of Energy's research and development initiatives is provided.   Many of these societies provide electronic publications.  While access to some publications may be free of charge, others may require subscriptions, pay per view arrangements, or access through libraries or commercial providers.

Disciplines contain links to e-print servers or e-prints provided by individual authors, which have been organized into subject-specific categories. 

The Alert Service will automatically notify you when new e-print information is indexed or added to databases in your specific areas of interest.  Simply register for the service and then fill in your search criteria on the "Create an E-print Alert page".

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Technical Requirements

This site works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.

Viewers and an unzip utility are also recommended for displaying documents. Below is a list of URL's with links to some viewers and utilities which may be downloaded for use with this site.

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Search
  1. Enter one or more search terms.  Search terms may be entered for creator/author, title, full text, and/or date.
  2. Select the number of records to retrieve from each collection.  The default is set at 10.
  3. Check the collections to search:
    • E-prints on Web Sites only:
      • Collection Descriptions provide details of each of the available collections.
      • Do not select any database box.
      • Text of PDF documents is searched on selected Web sites.
      • Select a subject for e-prints on Web sites:  selecting "All" which is the default setting searches all indexed e-prints on Web sites; selecting a specific subject area searches only indexed e-prints on Web sites within that specified subject area.
      • Search term(s) may not be on the retrieved results if found on a linked page or in the catalog record.
    • Databases only:
      • Select up to 10 databases from the list.
      • Collection Descriptions provide details of each of the available collections.
      • Databases are categorized by subjects.
      • Use hyperlinks on Collection Descriptions for more information on searching individual databases.
    • E-prints on Web Sites and Databases:
      • Select the "E-prints on Web Sites" box.
      • Select a subject for e-prints on Web sites:  selecting "All" which is the default setting searches all indexed e-prints on Web sites; selecting a specific subject area searches only indexed e-prints on Web sites within that specified subject area.
      • Select up to nine databases (maximum of 10 resources can be searched).
      • Collection Descriptions provide details of each of the available collections.
  4. Click "Search".
  5. Use "Clear" to start new search.

Search Tips

Although resources may employ different options, the following are generally true for E-print Network searching:

  • "And" and "Or" operators are generally supported (for example, searching "frogs or toads" returns results with either or both words).  Click for examples of searches with "And" and "Or" operators.
  • Wildcard character * (asterisk) is supported (for example, ecolog* will find both ecological and ecology) in several, but not all, databases.  Click here for an example of this kind of search.
  • Search is not case sensitive (for example, RAIN, Rain, and rain will produce the same results).
  • Full-text searching is available when supported by the database.
  • Limiting the number of collections searched will return faster results

Where Supported Note

Some collection search engines may not support field searching in some fields such as creator/author, title, and/or date.  However, users may enter search terms in these fields and the E-print Network's federated search attempts the search by performing a search on the collection in the most applicable field available.  For instance, if a collection does not support searching for an author/creator, the E-print Network's federated search may search that collection's full bibliographic record for the entered author's name.

Search Examples

The "And" example:  E-prints on Web Sites was selected, with the topic Biology and Medicine; in the Full Record field, the words "bioenergetics and proteomics" (without the quotation marks) were typed in.  Date range and number of records to show were at default values.

The "Or" example:  E-prints on Web Sites DEselected; databases for Astrophysics (arXiv), General Relativity & Quantum Cosmology (arXiv), and Physics (arXiv) were all selected; title field contained the words "cosmological constant or supernova"; date range 2003-2003; default number of items to return per database (10).  Output was (result files are deleted periodically): http://eprints.osti.gov/cgi-bin/genresults?qry1088689944

The wildcard example:  NECI Research Index and Max-Planck Institute Preprints (MPI) both selected, "turbulen*" typed into Full Record field (without the quotation marks), date range 1990-2003, default number of records to display per database (10).  It might be pointed out in any commentary that "Turbulen*" is chosen so that any documents with either of the words "turbulent" or "turbulence" will be found.  Output was (result files are deleted periodically):  http://eprints.osti.gov/cgi-bin/genresults?qry1699341634

Results

  • Results are hyperlinked to expanded information.
  • Results are returned as provided by individual resource; not ranked by E-print Network.
  • Results are displayed by resource.
  • Display order depends on how quickly each resource responds (for example, if Database A responds more quickly than Database B, results from Database A will be listed above those for Database B).
  • Total number of search results may need to be reset (for example, if Database A returns 25 out of 70 results, return to the search page, increase number of records to retrieve, and repeat the search).
  • Total number of search results may be restricted by the database (for example, Database A may limit results to 20, even though 25 was selected as the number to retrieve).

Results Navigation

  • UP–returns the user to the E-print Network Search page already accessed. Click on Clear to begin a new search.
  • MARK ALL–selects all results for further viewing.
  • LIST MARKS–presents a consolidated list of results the user has marked for further viewing during the current session.
  • CLEAR MARKS–deletes all previous marks. Use on a routine basis to completely erase marked items from the session.

Marked List Navigation

  • UP–returns user to original result list for any search.
  • CLEAR MARKS–clears all marked records. Records are automatically cleared after viewing.
  • DISPLAY–displays expanded version of all selected documents in one seamless, scrollable list. PDF icon indicates full text available.

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About the Search Engine

Distributed Explorit and Explorit Focused Crawler

Explorit is the core product from which all other current Deep Web Technologies products are derived. Basically, Explorit is a highly-configurable and easily customizable interface to commercially available, off-the-shelf (COTS) full-text search engines from Lextek International and Verity. Explorit provides the capability to deploy small to large-scale collections of information on the web - fully searchable and easily navigable - to a wide range of user communities. Large organizations or information purveyors with many collections of heterogeneous information benefit from the consistency and usability of the Explorit user interface: whether they deploy one collection or one hundred, users quickly learn that all Explorit applications operate essentially the same way, and variances are determined by content rather than inconsistent design.

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Disciplines

From the home page, click on "Disciplines" to browse e-print sites categorized by discipline or subject areas. Resources may appear under one or more discipline areas.

  1. Select the appropriate subject area by clicking on a discipline link.
  2. Sites under discipline areas are alphabetized.
  3. Explore resources by scrolling through the alphabetical list.
  4. View actual Web resource by clicking on a link.

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Scientific Societies

From the home page, click on "Find Scientific Societies" to browse a list of scientific societies and associations which focus on topics related to the Department of Energy's research and development initiatives.   Many of these societies provide electronic publications.  While access to some publications may be free of charge, others may require subscriptions, pay per view arrangements, or access through libraries or commercial providers.

  1. Societies are categorized geographically as Japanese or other.
  2. Sites are alphabetized within the two categories.
  3. Explore resources by scrolling through the alphabetical list.
  4. Click on a specific letter of the alphabet to jump to that part of the listing.
  5. View actual Web resource by clicking on a link.

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Alert Service

Registering

Alerts can be set up for any combination of the collections represented on the "Search" page. These collections currently include reports on computer science, mathematics, and physics.  To create a User Name and Password, follow these steps:

  1. Select NEW PATRON to register as a new user.
  2. Complete the Registration Form to create a user name and password.
  3. Click Register then click Login.
  4. Enter your user name and password in the login form.
  5. If you already have an account select EXISTING PATRON. Enter your user name and password and click Login. You can then view results for existing alerts, make changes to your alerts, or create new alerts.
  6. If you have forgotten your password, find an email message sent to you form eprints_help@osti.gov, there will be a URL listed in the email. Click on or paste the entire URL into your browser location input box and press enter. Your page allowing you to view and edit your alerts will be shown. You can then change your password by clicking the Change Password button at the bottom of the page.
  7. If you have forgotten your password and can't find an email with the URL for your alerts, send an email to eprints_help@osti.gov. We will provide you with the information to get to your individual account and create a new password.

Creating Your Search

  1. In the Alert Name provide the unique title of what you want your search to be called. You'll need the alert name to change or delete the alert or to view results.
  2. Enter the search term(s) you want included in this profile in the Full Record field. (You may wish to use the Search page to determine the best keywords and collections prior to creating your alert).
  3. Select the number of records to retrieve from each collection. This can be in increments of 10, 25, 50, or 100.
  4. Check the boxes of the e-print collections that you want your alert run against weekly (Please realize we have no control of how often these servers are updated so you may get zero results back with some servers).
  5. Click the submit button. This will complete the alert set up and it will be run with the next weekly batch process.
  6. The delete button will cancel this alert.
  7. There is a button on your individual alert page which will allow you to change your password.
  8. Each week you will get an email message telling you that your alert is ready. The email will contain a listing of the newest e-prints and the sources they are available from as well as a link to your personal alert page.
  9. The alert system will archive six weeks of search results on your personal alert page. Results older than six weeks will disappear from the page when the latest week's results appear. If you wish to keep those results you have to store them elsewhere before they vanish.

Editing

It is possible to edit and modify your alerts from your personal alert page. (If not already logged on, choose EXISTING PATRON, enter user name and password and click login.) Click on the name of the Alert you wish to edit. You may modify the search terms, select the number of records to retrieve, or add/delete e-print collections. When your changes have been made, click the Submit button, your changes will go into effect the next time the Alerts are processed. To delete an Alert, simply click on the Delete button.

Samples

This sample alert, “Magnesium Diboride”, is designed to find new e-prints in the condensed-matter database of arXiv.org as well as e-prints on materials-science websites that contain “MgB” at the beginning of any term in the text or bibliographic data (abstract, title, &c.). The term “MgB*” is actually less precise than “MgB2”, but is intended to circumvent the problem of multiple subscript formats such as “MgB_2”, “MgB{sub 2}”, etc. The name given to the alert is of course arbitrary.  Initial output for this alert can be seen here.  Note that there are more items from some sources than the maximum setting.  This is common for the first week's output, as the alert system catches up on items that were added before one's alert began running; in later weeks, the alerts will have no more than the maximum number of items from each source.

This “Neutrino Mass” sample alert uses the search phrase “neutrino* AND mass” to find e-prints in the arXiv.org's experimental and phenomenological high-energy physics databases and in the KEK Information System database whose bibliographic records contain both the word “mass” and any word that begins with “neutrino”. The databases were chosen to turn up as many papers as possible on experimental evidence for neutrino mass while limiting the number of purely theoretical papers that don’t provide experimental evidence for or against massive neutrinos. 

The alert “Quantum Chaos” searches arXiv.org's math-preprint, computer-science, and quantum-physics databases, along with physics websites, for bibliographic records characterized by the character string “quantum chaos”. 

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